Micropayments in video games have raised controversial discussion on numerous internet forums, as well as in the media. Several academic research papers, experts and bloggers have touched the subject, but research is lacking on the customers’ perspective. Ergo, a need for a thesis on this specific topic was felt.

The main objective of this thesis was to find out in depth, what customers really think about micropayments in video games, and why. A secondary objective of this thesis was for it to work as an information package on micropayments in video games – a collective, informative rundown on the subject – for anyone interested in this particular pricing model; in speculation of its effectiveness.

Data collected in research for this thesis are mostly quantitative, as questionnaire was chosen as the method of data collection in order to maximize the sample size. The questionnaire was advertised on several video game related internet forums in order to reach a plausible audience with an interest in the subject matter.

Findings were analysed and conclusions were drawn in the benefit of the reader and further research. It was found out that there is a multitude of reasons for customers to like and dislike micropayments, and that customers’ perceivedness of video game prices over the years is in contradiction with reality.

Results of this study show that in general micropayments in video games are more often disliked than liked by the customers – they are less popular in the eyes of the customers than in the eyes of the video game companies. Among the most notable conclusions of this study are that customers find micropayments more acceptable in free-to-play than in pay-to-play games;customers dislike micropayments enabling unfair advantage in multiplayer games; and customers do not like to feel forced to use micropayments in video games, but are willing to pay for extra content or features they can choose by themselves.